Whether it was intentional or not - it doesn't matter! With this strike, Leroy Sané had the Allianz Arena crowd on its feet. In FC Bayern's 5-0 win over Kyiv, the winger struck the ball from the left-hand side into the opposition penalty area in the 74th minute with so much force and spin that it passed everyone and sailed into the Kyiv goal. "It wasn't intentional. I wanted to cross the ball normally," said the 25-year-old, describing the attempted cross, which went over Dynamo goalkeeper Heorhiy Bushchan and into the far corner: "I was lucky that my technique wasn't so good in that moment!"
Man of the Match vs. Kyiv
Fortunately for his team-mates, however, a lack of finesse was not something Sané could be accused of during the remainder of his 79 minutes of action. The dribbling wizard claimed the Man of the Match award in the aftermath of the tie. He did backheels, feinted past opponents time and again and also came into his own as a deft passer. Just a few minutes before his goal, the Germany international had already assisted Serge Gnabry (68) in a full sprint during a counter-attack - Gnabry in turn rifled the ball onto the underside of the crossbar and in to make it 3-0.
This was not the first time in his professional career that Sané had been directly involved in at least one goal in seven consecutive matches, but he also extended his personal tally to ten goal involvements (four goals, six assists) this season. No other German player from Europe's top 5 leagues is doing as well as Sané this season! "I always work hard on myself. I know there's a lot of pressure. I try to concentrate on the pitch, stay calm and perform," revealed the attacker, who had struggled to reach his full potential in the first few games of the season. "That's been working very, very well in the last few weeks. I'm trying to keep that up."
Sané's upswing, however, is also due in no small part to his coach. "It's good to let him do what he wants," Julian Nagelsmann explained, "with every person, with every footballer, it's important that you're mentally clear so that you can perform. For the 34-year-old, however, that performance against Kiev did not only consist of successful attacking moves: "He had an outstanding game. He won the ball back after losing the it," said Nagelsmann, praising Sané's performance after leading the Bayern rankins with twelve tackles: "He's an outstanding player, with good character. He showed that again today." And if he continues like this, he will probably cause even more of a stir at Bayern.
Reaction to the win over Kyiv:
Topics of this article